Blues pt. 1
DISCLAIMER: I am not a music history expert. The research done for this post is both minimal and occurred entirely on Wikipedia. Nevertheless, I irrationally stand behind my mostly-baseless opinions.
Blues-based music is the best music for modern society. I won’t claim it to be the best music because there’s a lot to be said for classical symphonic music and its derivatives, and ultimately preferences are personal. But the blues is perfect for today.
People listen to music constantly, and they also work constantly, and so there’s a lot of overlap between music and work these days. The work has changed – it’s done on computers, or next to a machine, but it shares enough similarities with farm work to make the blues, which arose from work songs and spirituals, the appropriate form of music. The blues are simple, easy to learn; the rhythm is steady and important and the words are often unintelligible. You can listen to it passively without losing touch with the core of the song. Try listening to The Planets (Mars, for example) without paying attention. It’s not worth your time, despite being amazing pieces of music. But I guarantee you turning on some grungy blues with a quick meter will get you working faster than you ever have. And often enough you’ll be able to sing along – a great vocal range typically isn’t required; nor is getting the lyrics correct.
The only difficulty is deciding whether the blues’ greatest accomplishment is enduring, begetting jazz, or begetting rock and roll. That’s a murderer’s row of music styles. I aimed to write this piece talking about the influence on rock and roll, but got distracted by Caravan and Chameleon.
If anyone claims blues is too repetitive to listen to, just ask them who their favorite artists, and cock their head if it’s something blues-based. They’ll probably figure it out some day. Until then, you can amuse yourself with some Black Keys.